Daniel Ho’s clients want the best money can buy: branded residences and glass-wrapped penthouses complete with panoramic views and high-rise parking spots fit for supercars in the elite enclaves of Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
A world away, or so it seems, mid-level asset manager Charoen Kijvekin sees a very different reality playing out. His clients are debt-stricken Thais trying to claw back repossessed homes from auction and families on the bottom rung of the property ladder clinging to dreams of ownership.
Though they work at opposite ends of the market, both see the same widening divide between the haves and the have-nots. Across Southeast Asia, the rich are paying record sums for prime real estate, while the indebted fight to keep a roof above their heads – often just a job loss or family crisis away from losing their homes.
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“Most of my customers have lost their jobs,” said Charoen, 68, whose JZD Asset Management provides cheap loans to people the banks have turned away.
“If they can’t keep up with payments, the bank will repossess their homes. That’s when they come to me.”
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His business model is built on buying repossessed homes at auction and selling them back to their former owners, offering loans at an interest rate he says undercuts most banks.
